When someone passes away leaving a will, the executors may need to obtain what is known as ‘probate’ from the Probate Registry to allow them to give effect to the terms of the will. But not all estates need probate. Other issues arise, for instance some estates will have Inheritance Tax to pay and others may not.
Sorting through all these issues can be daunting. You might feel that you need to be pointed in the right direction or you may feel that you just need help with competing the tax forms. You may want someone to take the whole thing off your hands.
We can help.
Set out below are our fixed fees for helping with certain aspects of probate. We can offer a tailored fixed fee in cases where we are more involved.
If you think that we may be able to help you, please get in touch.
** Read our recent article on administering an estate during a pandemic **
The above fixed fees assume that you provide us with all the information needed to populate the forms. If we are asked to collect-up some or all of the information needed, this additional work is charged at our hourly rate.
More complex probates are usually paid for on an hourly rate basis. In such cases, we give a costs estimate at the start of the matter and keep that under review every month so that you know how much it’s costing.
For work charged on an hourly basis, our current rates are as follows: –
While no two estates are the same, and unforeseen complications can arise at any time, our charge for a simple and uncomplicated probate is normally in the region of £3,000 – £6,000 + VAT and disbursements, the upper end of this bracket being where tax is payable on the estate.
Please note – unlike many law firms, we do not charge our clients a percentage of the estate.
‘Disbursements’ are expenses that we pay on your behalf. During probate, these commonly are: –
These are disbursements of the estate and are paid once funds are available.
For more information about Legal Aid and if you might be eligible, please feel free to contact us.